News

Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp A poll carried out by activist group Business for Scotland has found that late payment is a bigger issue in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, with 38 per cent saying they regularly have problems with customers delaying payment and 41 per cent being made to wait 90 days or lo

The number of alternative lenders that Royal Bank of Scotland recommends to the small and medium-sized business clients that it has turned down for a loan is to be expanded, the Edinburgh-based lender has said. Five alternative lenders will join the Capital Connections panel that puts unsuccessful a

A Scottish Government programme set up to deliver complex agricultural reforms and financial support to rural workers has been slammed by the national auditor. Audit Scotland said the project “continues to have serious cost and operational issues, and is unlikely to deliver value for money” havi

Fiona Hyslop Domestic tourists spent £400 million more in visits to Scotland in 2015 compared to the previous year, according to figures released today.

Caledonia Investments, the investment house founded by shipping tycoon Sir Charles Cayzer in 1878, has raised its full year net asset value 1.1 per cent to £1.64bn for a total return of 2.6 per cent. The positive results for the firm, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange with the backing of

Richard Koch Glasgow and Edinburgh two of UK cities leading the way in the rise of contactless payments, according to new data.

DWF has appointed Caroline Colliston as a director in the firm’s tax team joining from corporate and commercial law firm Blackwood Partners LLP. Based in Edinburgh, she will support the firm’s private and public sector clients domestically and internationally with a focus on tax and share incent

French Duncan has been shortlisted in the prestigious Large Accountancy Firm of the Year category at the Scottish Accountancy and Finance Awards 2016. The firm, which has with 18 partners, a fee income of over £10 million, nearly 200 employees and a network of offices spanning Scotland’s Central

The Royal Bank of Scotland has named the next five branches to be axed from its Scottish branch network as part of the ongoing cost saving drive across the still 73 percent state-owned lender. The Edinburgh-based bank, which was bailed out at a cost of £45 billion by the UK taxpayer at the height o

A Dundee bookkeeper has admitted embezzling £60,000 from her employer, which she spent on cars, foreign holidays and jewellery. On the third day of her trial before a jury at Dundee Sheriff Court, Catherine Bryceland admitting taking the money from city firm Raymond Gloag Painters and Decorators ov

Alistair Black Future increases to the National Living Wage (NLW) could affect up to 20 per cent of the workforce within four years, and the full impact may not have been considered by Scottish businesses unaffected by recent changes, according to accountants Johnston Carmichael.

Aberdeen-based accountancy firm Anderson Anderson Brown has been shortlisted for the 2016 Scottish Accountancy & Finance Awards in the categories of 'Tax Team of the Year' and 'Accountancy Firm of the Year'. The firm will be going for its third consecutive tax team win at the awards ceremony to

Investment manager Brewin Dolphin, which has more than 100 staff, including 47 ­investment managers and ­financial planners based in Edinburgh, has reported a 42 per cent drop in its profits, as it completes restructuring to a discretionary wealth management focus. The firm's latest half-year resu

Standard Life has said about £90m worth of unclaimed shares left over from its demutualisation 10 years ago could be made available to charities through a new foundation. The Edinburgh-based pensions group announced the initiative at its AGM this week and would see it is to set up a multi-million p

The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that gross mortgage lending reached £18.5 billion in April. The total is 29 per cent lower than March’s lending total of £26.2 billion, but 16 per cent higher than the £16 billion lent in April last year.